How do I find my product key from windows.old?

I think you could use nirsoft or jellybean and point it to the windows.old directory...

ProduKey - Recover lost product key (CD-Key) of Windows/MS-Office/SQL Server

KeyFinder | Magical Jelly Bean

That's why we get the big bucks. Oh wait, we're volunteers! :)

Let us know how it goes.

garethgkr said:

Hi

I recently helped my cousin reformat his laptop and he cannot remember where he put his license key.
Is there a way to find it out through windows.old that was created when laptop was formatted?

Thanks

Assuming the laptop came pre-installed, the Key is on the COA sticker on the case (or inside the battery compartment)

Glad to hear it - good luck!
)Please mark the thread as 'solved' - that helps others either find or avoid it)

Hi thx1139,

I don't know how to do it in Jelly Bean, but I do with ProduKey:

Your Windows 7 product key is stored in the software registry hive, located here:

C:\Windows\system32\config\software

Please note, software is the file name, not a directory. It has no file extension. Your drive may have a different letter.

This is a little program that will tell you the product keys of the various software installed on your computer. What makes this different, is the ability to load keys from an external registry hive. Exactly what we want

So if you download and run ProduKey (by NirSoft):

http://www.nirsoft.n...key_viewer.html

Then press File > Select Source, you will be presented with a new menu. On this, select Load the product keys from an external Software Registry hive and you will be prompted to open a file. Navigate to the software hive on the external drive and open the hive. E.g. D:\Windows\system32\config\software. You should now have your product keys

Hope this helped.

Tom